President Donald Trump twice this week berated Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., for his "thumbs-down" on a bill to repeal parts of Obamacare, but mischaracterized the impact, angering some Senate Republicans, including McCain's closest friend, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., CNN reported.

"I don't think it's appropriate," Graham told CNN on Thursday. "I think it doesn't help the president," adding, "It hurts the President more than it helps him."

In an appearance Thursday in Wisconsin and earlier in the week, in Graham's home state of South Carolina, Trump assailed the vote.

"We did repeal and replace Obamacare," Trump charged Thursday in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, CNN reported. "Unfortunately, one senator decided to put the thumb down late in the morning. And that was not a good thing, when he put that thumb down."

Trump claims the Senate was one vote away from repealing and replacing the law last July when McCain took the floor to vote "no." But the vote was on a "skinny repeal" — a bill designed to eliminate only specific elements of the Affordable Care Act.

And it still needed to survive a House-Senate conference committee and final approval in both chambers.

Graham, echoing the concerns of many Senate Republicans, defended McCain, who has been away from the chamber since last December as he has battled brain cancer, CNN reported.

"John McCain is my dear friend," Graham told the news outlet. "I disagree with him on the healthcare vote, but I respect his right to make that decision. If anybody has earned the right to vote their mind, it's John McCain."

President Donald Trump berated Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., for his "thumbs-down" on a bill to repeal parts of Obamacare twice this week, angering Republicans, including McCain's close friend, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.